CWC 2023: India win toss, opt to field against New Zealand, Suryakumar replaces Hardik Pandya

Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India]: India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field first against New Zealand in the ongoing World Cup clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday.

India will be seeking revenge for the run-out from Martin Guptill in the 2019 World Cup semi-final 1566 days ago. Both teams are unbeaten after playing four games each, today one team’s unbeaten run is bound to end.

The Men in Blue have made two crucial changes as Suryakumar Yadav comes in for injured Hardik Pandya while Mohammed Shami is making his first appearance in the ongoing World Cup in place of Shardul Thakur.

India captain Rohit Sharma said during the time of toss, “We’ll bowl first. No reason, we were here training yesterday and felt a bit of dew comes in. Looks like a good pitch, we’ll back ourselves to chase. Quite important to keep the momentum going, and forget what happened in the past. Need to be at it all the time. This is one place everyone wants to come and play, with beautiful weather and nice stadium. Hardik isn’t available, so does Shardul. We’ve got Shami and Surya.

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said at the time of toss, “We’d have bowled first as well. Looks a good surface, and we know the dew will come in. The important thing is whatever we do, we need to do well. We need to keep the momentum going. We are in a new ground, new conditions so need to adjust to these conditions as quickly as we can. We’ve got the same team for today – three seamers and two spinners.”

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w/c), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.